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Some small enhancements that'll help a lot

In this thread I'll try to collect some enhancement that don't qualify as "new feature" but as small enhancements to the user interface to make working with AM 2 better.

1. Naming presets is fine, but in the refined preset popup we need a double click to recall a preset instead of just a single click. I propose a dedicated recall button near the save button to recall a preset with just two single clicks, one for opening the preset palette and one for recall as it was in V1.

2. It was already in V1 hard to identify a special automation lane (Pale grey names under the actual automation events). I suggest a context menu entry at a parameter control below "Automate" called "Show automation" which scrolls the automation pane to make the according lane the topmost in the pane. Alternatively this could be done in the Contraption Properties dialog by clicking on the automation symbol at the according parameter.

Feel free to comment and add things to this list, but keep the topic in mind, it's just about little extra menu entries or buttons in the application, not new things like contraptions, file formats, explorers, grouping whatsorever.

(1) is definitely on the list. I'm happy to hear of anywhere else where buttons would be better than right-click or double-click. I'm thinking of adding store and recall buttons to Metasurface snapshots too.

(2) is also possible. I was considering adding one or more "link" buttons to the parameter control window, so, for example, when you click on a parameter it also highlights the contraption in the patcher and the automation.

both suggestions would be great enhancements,
and #2 could possibly lead into a similar request of mine that would allow you to colour code contraptions and connections as you wish. Automation lanes would/could follow suite of the contraption colour.

I recently I got a new controller and in this context I realized that copying/pasting contraptions don't copy the MIDI assignment together with the contraption.
I could spare a lot of work when I don't have to do complex mappings again for each new patch and could copy a mapped contraption instead from an older patch. (I think that was alreadymentioned some years ago in the mailing list)

I don't know if this qualifies as a small change, but I think this is the way it should have worked from the beginning.
Thank you for listening.

In response to Al's "copy with mappings" I would personally argue that while this would most certainly be a handy option I wouldn't want it to be the default. I think it greatly depends on how you regularly use mulch and while it may be an inconvenience to have to remap parameters, the same would be true for those who have to unmap parameters. I think the idea is a nice one but would prefer it to be an original mulch feature "Copy with Mappings" rather than a selectable either/or.

I just had this idea that the Automation timeline could be like a contraption in it's own right and therefore have it's own contraption preset menu. This way you could save Automation Loops, and Clock Position Markers as presets. Then when you select a new preset if the clock is playing it goes there at the end of the next bar and if the clock is stopped it goes straight there. Perhaps you could even configure it to go straight to the new point when selected while playing rather than waiting.

This would be great when playing live, facilitating another type of scene changing option but could be equally useful when editing in that it would quickly allow you to jump to sections you want to work on.

Several stereo-input contraptions have a feature that automatically bridges a mono signal to both inputs. I would personally like an "opt-out" preference available, so that something intentionally patched to one side could remain so. (I understand a dead-patch will accomplish the same thing.)

maybe this has been mentioned already but there are some usability issues in the patcher.

when copying and pasting a large amount of contraptions, for example from another mulch document, sometimes they get pasted off screen and there is no way to scroll up to get them.

another example is if you select all the contraptions in the patcher and move them down out of view and then paste some contraptions (a patch) from another document there is no way to go back down to the bottom and bring up the contraptions that were there before the paste.

no scroll bar shows up at least not on OSX unless the automation lanes window is activated.

To point 2. of the topic comment : Just posted a solution in my topic"Automationbar": It is a good way to show an automation lane, if you select it´s contraption. You want to select one of these automation lanes. But if at first nothing but the (active) automationlanes for one contraption are shown, you could easily choose it. So I want only these automations to be shown, whose contraption is selected.
Beside this it´s helpful to see some lanes every time. To do this, the wanted lane could be drag and drop into a highlighted area on the top of the automation bar!!!
At the end you can see only the active automations of one contraption and the important ones.

one could add another highlighted area for parameters, that shouldn't be affected from preset changes. I often have the problem that i "scene-automated" a contraption in a tonal way: with several presets that i arrange as chords in the automation lane. When I now decide to automate a parameter, it always restores values from the presets according to preset automation hence this parameter is not free controlable any more.

"You can already drag and drop automation lanes to reorder them. Just grab the header at the left of the channel."

Yes but the crux of the idea was, to drag & drop lanes in a special area of the automation window to make them "persistent" (visibility not affected by contraption selection).
Thats a good compromise between showing all automated lanes everytime, where a specific lane is hard to find, and showing just the lanes of selected contraptions, which needs an additional click to select a contraption first.

The whole system to record automations disturbes the workflow, particular if you want to work like a DJ. The record-button at the top should bring audiomulch in a record mode. The rigid behavement of the sliders and knobs within playback must yet be broken. But if you don´t touch one of them they go their way, but within touching one of them your moves had to be recorded! If you release the knobs, they go their way, only that every path of them was recorded.* In the case of a snapshot-automated contraption, it had to be the same referring to the automated parameters.
The unautomated parameters (of one snapshot) should remain on the last value, that you give before the following snapshot apears. (for every snapshot in the whole record- process). This also concerns the drum cotrolls!To be in a flow, snapshots must roll in their order meanwhile.

Although all is saved in the Ram, you have to save the new path or the changed snapshot. My idea to the saving of snapshot is, that you can save it in the ordinary way (properties window). But the automations at the record- symbol at the beginning of their lane.
This step of saving, a DJ doesn´t need, so it could be a little bit clumbsy, but a shortcut to save the new snapshot at a new place is better.(for example Alt+rightclick on its flag OR a button)
This step is needed, so that you can experiment with the mulch and otherwise throw your ideas away.
Therefore the unsaved automations get lost and it apears the old pathes or values/ patterns, when you disable the main record button!